Australian shares end near record high ahead of Fed policy meeting
ASX 200 gains for fourth straight day
Benchmark touches all-time high
Fed policy meeting due Wednesday
By Roshan Thomas and Echha Jain
Sept 17 (Reuters) - Australian stocks flirted with an all-time high on Tuesday, a day ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision and as investors waited for local jobs data due later in the week.
The S&P/ASX 200 .AXJO ended 0.2% higher at 8140.9 points, marking its fourth straight session of gains. The benchmark touched a record 8150.5points during the session.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut rates for the first time since 2020 at the close of its two-day meeting on Wednesday.
Markets are pricing in a 67% likelihood of a 50 basis points (bps) cut, with a 33% chance of a 25 bps reduction, the CME FedWatch Tool showed.
The Reserve Bank of Australia, on the other hand, has stuck to a hawkish stance by ruling out the possibility of a rate cut this year as inflation remains too high, even though the economy struggles to motor on.
That might change after local jobs data is out on Thursday, throwing light on how well the labour market is handling the extended period of high interest rates.
"The market is holding on to the risk that the domestic labour market weakens quickly, as it has in other countries," Westpac said in a note, adding "price action will be skewed to more bullish moves on weaker-than-expected outcomes than the opposite."
Rate-sensitive financials .AXFJ rose 0.2% in their second consecutive session of gains. Shares of National Australia Bank NAB.AX and Westpac WBC.AX added 0.2% and 0.7% respectively.
Energy stocks .AXEJ rose by 0.2%, driven by rising oil prices as the market focused on U.S. output disruptions from Hurricane Francine and anticipated lower U.S. crude stockpiles. O/R
Sector heavyweights Woodside WDS.AX and Santos STO.AX were up 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively.
The New Zealand benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 lost 0.3%to 12,671.95 points.
Reporting by Roshan Thomas and Echha Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee
For more information on DIARIES & DATA: U.S. earnings diary RESF/US Wall Street Week Ahead .N/O Global Economy Week Ahead DATA/ ................................................................ For latest top breaking news across all markets NEWS1
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
